Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication; and more particularly to systems and methods for control and activation of active circuits used in a wide variety of active antenna systems, active modules and transceivers implemented within communication systems.
Description of the Related Art
As new generations of handsets and other wireless communication devices become smaller and embedded with more applications, novel antenna solutions are required to address inherent limitations of these devices. With passive antenna structures, a certain physical volume is required to produce a resonant antenna structure at a particular radio frequency and with a certain bandwidth. With the advent of a new generation of wireless devices and communication technologies, passive antenna structures are becoming less desirable. Instead, these passive antennas will eventually be replaced with active antenna structures configured to provide beam switching, beam steering, space or polarization diversity, dynamic impedance matching, dynamic frequency switching, mode switching, etc., in order to reduce the size of devices and improve performance. Future antennas will require the addition of one or multiple active components coupled to the antenna structure to provide these dynamic features resulting in a more capable and robust antenna system.
Wireless devices are also experiencing a convergence with other mobile electronics devices. Due to increases in data transfer rates, processor and memory resources, it has become possible to offer a wide variety of products and services on wireless devices that have typically been reserved for more traditional electronic devices. This increase in functionality in a mobile wireless device continues to put pressure on the designer to reduce overall size of antennas and the components and wiring required to actively enable the antennas.
One such concern in the art is how to implement a multi-mode active antenna having a plurality of active components for tuning the antenna; since under certain conditions multiple wires or cables may be needed, thereby driving a larger volume in the resulting device.
There is a need for antenna solutions which address these challenges of increasing antenna capability while maintaining a small form factor. There is also a need for a method of supplying control signals and power to active components integrated into antennas and other devices to yield a space saving configuration.